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Ville Koistinen played his first NHL game last night. The defender played an excellent AHL season in Milwaukee last year and got to play in the IHWC in Moscow too. This was rewarded by a new contract with the Predators. Last night he played 16 minutes of which 3 minutes were on the power play. He recorded one shot on goal.

Last night Koistinen scored his first NHL goal and added two assists. He seems to be developing into a real offensive NHL defenseman.

So I went through and read the postings on this thread and like most people are amazed at the number and especially quality of Finnish players in the NHL. Given all this success, why aren't the Finns more successful in the U20 WJC, World Championships, Olympics, etc? Of course by ultimate success I mean golds and first place finnishes. Given the info in these posts, one would expect that level of success.

So I went through and read the postings on this thread and like most people are amazed at the number and especially quality of Finnish players in the NHL. Given all this success, why aren't the Finns more successful in the U20 WJC, World Championships, Olympics, etc? Of course by ultimate success I mean golds and first place finnishes. Given the info in these posts, one would expect that level of success.

I think many Finnish hockey fans are asking those same questions. Golds in U20 and men's championships in the 90s' gave more hope than has become true. If we look back some tournaments there are second places in the World Cup 04, Olympics 06 and World Championships 07. I would say nowadays Finland is a top 3 nation in international tournaments. We are just waiting for the first big victory of this millennium. Finnish hockey develops all the time and that shows as the number of Finnish players in the NHL is increasing year by year. There has also been lots of talk about SM-liiga being worse than in decades. I don't see it this way. After every season more and more Finnish players sign a contract abroad, mostly to Sweden, NHL, Switzerland and nowadays Russia too. That means those SM-liiga players are good enough to play in those leagues. They are signed because they are considered better players than the players who already play in those leagues and teams. Eventually this kind of development will show. The ultimate success is on it's way.

I think many Finnish hockey fans are asking those same questions. Golds in U20 and men's championships in the 90s' gave more hope than has become true. If we look back some tournaments there are second places in the World Cup 04, Olympics 06 and World Championships 07. I would say nowadays Finland is a top 3 nation in international tournaments. We are just waiting for the first big victory of this millennium. Finnish hockey develops all the time and that shows as the number of Finnish players in the NHL is increasing year by year. There has also been lots of talk about SM-liiga being worse than in decades. I don't see it this way. After every season more and more Finnish players sign a contract abroad, mostly to Sweden, NHL, Switzerland and nowadays Russia too. That means those SM-liiga players are good enough to play in those leagues. They are signed because they are considered better players than the players who already play in those leagues and teams. Eventually this kind of development will show. The ultimate success is on it's way.

I've made a lineup out of the players who currently play in the NHL, but I expect 2-5 changes. Teppo Numminen is close to retirement. Teemu Selänne hasn't officially retired yet. There are almost ten goalies who could play for this team. There are some young players who may develop enough to make this team.

Joensuu to Islanders

Jesse Joensuu has signed a three-year contract with the New York Islanders. The forward has played four seasons in SM-Liiga and this year he scored 17 goals and 35 points for the bottom team of the league, Ässät Pori. With his record point total he was the team's best scorer. In 2003 Jesse Joensuu became the youngest player ever to play in SM-Liiga at the age of 15 years and 11 months.

Now that there are only four teams left in the playoffs it's already certain that at least one Finn will get the ring. Pittsburgh has everybody's favourite Jarkko Ruutu. Philadelphia has four Finns, Sami Kapanen, Kimmo Timonen, Lasse Kukkonen and Antero Niittymäki. Dallas has the Finnish trio Jere Lehtinen, Niklas Hagman and Antti Miettinen. Detroit has young and rising Valtteri Filppula.

It was a beautiful goal and one like which I have never seen before. Remembering that that was the first NHL game he played it is easy to understand why the Red Wings coach said before the season that Leino was the best player ever has had to sent to the minors. Hopefully Leino will get more responsibility in the future. Even yesterday he only got 12 minutes of ice time, the third least of his team's forwards.

There were other good news for Finns yesterday too. Teemu Selänne played his 617th game with the Anaheim Ducks taking the top spot from Steve Rucchin. Tuukka Rask on the other hand stopped 35 shots and had his first NHL shutout when Boston beat the Rangers 1-0.

Earlier this week Kimmo Timonen played his 700th NHL game and Riku Helenius got his first minutes on ice guarding the net of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It has been speculated for some time now (and confirmed by the Canadiens some days ago) that Saku Koivu won't continue to play in Montreal. Now he has signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal with Anaheim Ducks. This marks the first time that the two Finnish national team linemates, Teemu Selänne and Koivu, will play on the same club team. This should also be good for Finland's hopes for Vancouver next February.

This should also be good for Finland's hopes for Vancouver next February.

They're both past their prime and definitely won't be in the primary scoring role in Vancouver, but the five-or-so-months they now have time to brush up their game should make one helluva secondary scoring unit for the games.

Teppo Numminen retires

Veteran Finnish D-man Teppo Numminen (b. 3rd July 1968) announced today that his career as a hockey player is at its end.

Numminen started his professional career in 1984 with Tappara Tampere in SM-liiga. He transferred to NHL in 1988 where he represented Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, Phoenix Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres over 20 seasons. With 1372 NHL games under his belt, he is the record-holding player with most games in the Show out of those born in Europe.

Numminen's future is still tightly linked with the game however, as it was concurrently announced that he's been hired as a scout for the Finnish ice hockey association.

Finnish players in NHL 2010-11

Finns in NHL 2010-11 with at least 1 played game (backup goalie is not enough)
All time list in first post. 2005-06 in second post, 2006-07 in post #84, 2007-08 in post #93 and 2008-09 in post #114, 2009-10 in post #122.

Finnish players in NHL 2011-12

Finns in NHL 2011-12 with at least 1 played game (backup goalie is not enough)
All time list in first post. 2005-06 in second post, 2006-07 in post #84, 2007-08 in post #93 and 2008-09 in post #114, 2009-10 in post #122, 2010-11 in post #127.

Finnish players in NHL 2012-13

Finns in NHL 2011-12 with at least 1 played game (backup goalie is not enough)
All time list in first post. 2005-06 in second post, 2006-07 in post #84, 2007-08 in post #93 and 2008-09 in post #114, 2009-10 in post #122, 2010-11 in post #127, 2011-12 in post #129.

Finnish players in NHL 2013-14

Finns in NHL 2013-14 with at least 1 played game (backup goalie is not enough)
All time list in first post. 2005-06 in second post, 2006-07 in post #84, 2007-08 in post #93 and 2008-09 in post #114, 2009-10 in post #122, 2010-11 in post #127, 2011-12 in post #129, 2012-13 in post #133.

Finnish players in NHL 2014-15

Finns in NHL 2014-15 with at least 1 played game (backup goalie is not enough)
All time list in first post. 2005-06 in second post, 2006-07 in post #84, 2007-08 in post #93 and 2008-09 in post #114, 2009-10 in post #122, 2010-11 in post #127, 2011-12 in post #129, 2012-13 in post #133, 2013-14 in post #135.

Finnish players in NHL 2015-16

Finns in NHL 2015-16 with at least 1 played game (backup goalie is not enough)
All time list in first post. 2005-06 in second post, 2006-07 in post #84, 2007-08 in post #93 and 2008-09 in post #114, 2009-10 in post #122, 2010-11 in post #127, 2011-12 in post #129, 2012-13 in post #133, 2013-14 in post #135, 2014-15 in post #136.

Finnish players in NHL 2016-17

Finns in NHL 2016-17 with at least 1 played game (backup goalie is not enough)
All time list in first post. 2005-06 in second post, 2006-07 in post #84, 2007-08 in post #93 and 2008-09 in post #114, 2009-10 in post #122, 2010-11 in post #127, 2011-12 in post #129, 2012-13 in post #133, 2013-14 in post #135, 2014-15 in post #136, 2015-16 in post #137.